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Sonex #1284 |
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Being built by Mike Kelley—Lake Oswego, OR |
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Project Log 2011 |
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My builder log was getting too long for 1 page, so I’m going to try splitting it up by the year. Just a couple of notes. I totaled about 378 building hours in 2011 over 92 days, or roughly 4 hours per day. This was OK, but I was really low on the number of days I actually was able to work on the plane. I averaged only 8 days a month! Way too low. On the bright side, I think that I’m making good progress in the time I’m spending. In the meantime, I’m also trying to fly at least once a month to keep my currency.
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Date |
Hobbs |
Elapsed |
Comments |
SNX-Drawing |
Photo Log |
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Time |
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1/1/2011 |
632.61 |
3.8 |
Happy New Year! Finished pilot drilling main spar. Checked level and added hinges for aileron & flaps. Worked a lot on alignment. Enough for New Year's Day |
W07 |
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1/2/2011 |
635.34 |
2.7 |
Good day to fly! Went up for 1.5 hours. Reformed both leading edge skins using vacuum forming method. |
W18 |
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1/11/2011 |
638.62 |
3.3 |
Not happy with reformed skin. Went and got a 1.5" closet rod from Home Depot and formed again. Better this time. Attached leading edge skin, pilot drilled and cleco'd. |
W07, W18 |
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1/15/2011 |
645.61 |
7.0 |
Built pitot system. Decided to go single and get static from rear of fuselage as suggested by others and the factory. Added and internal doubler plate to relieve any stress (when bumped!) and allowed for countersinking screws. Designed and build-up upper and lower AOA sensors. |
W23 |
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1/16/2011 |
655.08 |
9.5 |
Updrilled Right wing to 7/64 for dimpling. Removed, deburred and dimpled the leading edge (it came off first). Decided to move the pitot 2 stations further our. Cut out the pitot hole, cleaned up and attached the doubler & nutplates to the skin. |
W07 |
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1/17/2011 |
658.26 |
3.2 |
Removed the lower right skin. Updrilled the spar to #30. Cleaned and dimpled lower skin. Added nutplates for inspection covers. Countersunk main spar for flush rivets. Rehung skin and cleco'd. |
W07 |
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1/19/2011 |
661.91 |
3.6 |
Reamed to #30 and riveted lower skin on. Updrilled upper skin to 7/64. Removed upper skin, deburred. Cleaned up all the ribs. Updrilled to #30 and countersunk main spar. Attached tie-down bolt to lower spar through skin. |
W07 |
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1/20/2011 |
665.83 |
3.9 |
Dimpled upper skin and ribs. Rehung skin and cleco'd. Reamed to #30 and riveted upper skin on. Time to flip the wing over again. |
W07 |
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1/21/2011 |
668.11 |
2.3 |
Flipped the wing over. Added 2 more hose supports because of decision to move pitot 2 stations. Ran 3/8" poly hose for conduit and pulled 6X #18 wires. Installed Tygon pitot hose. Deburred back side of the main spar (where skin attaches). Vacuumed everything out. attached spacer clips to lower ribs, and attached leading edge skin. |
W07 |
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1/22/2011 |
670.09 |
2.0 |
Reamed to #30 and riveted leading edge skin on. Milestone - 1st wing finished (except for doubler & tips). Fellow builder Jon Crew stopped by. Started building wing rack from scraps in the shop. |
W07 |
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1/23/2011 |
673.52 |
3.4 |
Added finishing touches to wing rack. Put right wing in rack. Put skins for left wing on the other side. Tore down the pallet and cleaned up the shop. Put left wing on horses and squared up. Blue-lined ribs. Clamped on upper skin, pilot drilled and cleco'd. |
W07 |
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1/24/2011 |
675.66 |
2.1 |
Hung the lower skin with clamps. Pilot drilled and cleco'd. Updrilled spar holes to 7/64. Both skins now on. |
W07 |
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1/29/2011 |
680.78 |
5.1 |
Clamped and pilot drilled hinges for L wing control surfaces. Spent some time leveling and adjusting. They seemed a little different than the right wing. Needed to file out both control access holes a little for clearance. Removed flaps & ailerons and flipped wing. Pilot drilled and cleco'd leading edge skin. Updrilled leading edge to 7/64. Removed leading edge skin. Flipped wing again and updrilled upper skin to 7/64. Removed and began deburring upper skin. Ready to cleanup & dimple. |
W07 |
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1/30/2011 |
688.6 |
7.8 |
Deburred L wing ribs and dimpled. Updrilled spar to #30 and countersunk. Cleaned up L wing upper skin and dimpled. Reattached with clecos. Reamed to #30 and riveted! Removed lower skin. Attached nut plates for inspection plate. |
W07 |
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1/31/2011 |
692.94 |
4.3 |
Cleaned up lower skin. Deburred ribs, Dimpled skin and ribs. Updrilled spar to #30 and countersunk. Cleco'd skin back on. Reamed to #30 and riveted. Riveted the skin on. Flipped the wing again. Added 2 more hose supports for AOA lines. Deburred the main spar. Inserted the bushings and poly tube conduit. |
W07 |
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2/2/2011 |
698.02 |
5.1 |
Fished the 6X #18 wired through the poly. Spent time beginning to design a landing light bracket system (for both wings). Located positions and pilot drilled for AOA sensors. Used a 1/16" for port hole. Cleaned and Dimpled the leading edge. Listened to the Onex webinar while I worked. |
W07 |
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2/3/2011 |
700.6 |
2.6 |
Spent a little more time finalizing light bracket design. Attached the leading edge skin. Designed and build a lightweight AOA drain extender. Attached AOA port to skin with RTV. Riveted skin. Except for tips, W07 is finished. |
W07 |
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2/5/2011 |
700.6 |
0.0 |
MAJOR MILESTONE - Both wings, Fuselage and Tail Sections are now built. I also exactly reached the 700 hour mark. Took the weekend off, but spent it reconfiguring the workshop getting ready to attach the wings that meant tearing down the workbench and cleaning up. |
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2/12/2011 |
705.68 |
5.1 |
Attached nutplates for rear fuselage inspection cover. Removed main gear mounts. Updrilled to 3/16" where required and repainted with epoxy paint. Built rear spar carry-thru. |
L04, F03 |
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2/13/2011 |
708.19 |
2.5 |
Move the fuselage over for wing attachment. Began the "wing rigging" process. Removed aft tunnel web. Thoroughly leveled the plane. Mounted the wings and got the 3 positioning pins inserted. |
F02 |
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2/19/2/20 |
711.68 |
3.5 |
Flew the AA1A today. Leveled and check dimensions on the wings. Nearly everything was perfect with no major adjustment necessary! Installed rear spar carry thru. Attached it and the shear with clecos. Checked all levels and distances again! |
F02 |
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2/20/2011 |
716.9 |
5.2 |
Removed rear spar carry thru. Drilled to 1/4", cleaned and riveted together. Needed to dimple several holes for the attach angles. Also countersunk the gear holes, and riveted together most of the aft tunnel web…except the 4 outer columns of holes on both sides. Ready to updrill the main spar! |
F02 |
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2/21/2011 |
719.28 |
2.4 |
Step-drilled main spars to 3/8." The side I was really careful with drifted close to the outside, so I will probably pin both. The side I just ran a 3/8" bit through pretty fast turned out perfect. Oh well. Order pins for main & rear spars from McMaster-Carr |
F02 |
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2/26/2011 |
721.68 |
2.4 |
Measured off the doublers and cut back about 5mm. Needed to updrill to 1/8 so that clecos fit. Cleco'd them in place. |
W07 |
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2/27/2011 |
728.75 |
7.1 |
Made a Right wing doubler from .030 dimpled and cleco'd. Marked off 1/8" from skin and cut on the line => 3/16" for Van's gap seal. Dimpled doublers. Cleaned up and riveted all. W07 Done! Tested my experimental LED landing light. |
W07 |
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3/5/2011 |
731.15 |
2.4 |
Removed the wings. Updrilled the pin access holes. Made a dimpling tool that would dimple larger screws needed for the lightweight bike cup holders I found on-line . Made a proto connector box for the headset to plug-in. |
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3/6/2011 |
740.47 |
9.3 |
Finished 2nd headset box. Dimpled the tunnel and installed on tunnel. Decided to remake 2 of the spar attach block which had ovaled. Do it properly required removing and remaking the F14-8 vertical angle which I did. It didn't take as long as I thought it might. Drilled the top of the titanium to attached the main gear. Used a low RPM and 3 passes; 3/16, 7/32 and 1/4. Used lots of cutting fluid and no problem. Put the entire tunnel back together with clecos. Turned the fuselage on it's side, step drilled to #30 and riveted the tunnel and floor into place. |
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3/7/2011 |
743.51 |
3.0 |
Installed the control sticks. Discovered the same binding that other tricycle gear builds have seen. Will need to fix. Installed elevator push rod and rudder cables. Found binding in a few places and went to work with a file. Turned the fuselage back up. Temporarily attached the rudder attach links top the pedals, |
C01 |
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3/8/2011 |
745.87 |
2.4 |
Carefully aligned the main gear axles. Clamped, marked, removed and drilled the lower gear to the titanium. Again, 3 passes and no problems. Needed to order some more hardware that has disappeared in the workshop! |
C01 |
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3/9/2011 |
748.12 |
2.3 |
Packed the main gear bearings and installed the axles and wheels. Marked the axles, drilled and tapped per directions. Mounted the Tracy O'Brien brakes. Finally replaced the motor mount clamps with hardware. Finished inside-tunnel rivets with hand riveter. Installed solid rivets with the bucking block and a ball peen hammer. Worked well. Installed the nose gear steering push-rod. |
C01 |
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3/11/2011 |
750.57 |
2.5 |
Fixed clearance issue with control stick by grinding stop down. Fit and cleco'd left wingtip. Not happy with concave bow. |
C01, W07 |
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3/12/2011 |
754.9 |
4.3 |
Installed the horizontal stabilizer. Lots of filing on the skin to make fit snug up against fuselage. Started attaching vertical. |
T01 |
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3/13/2011 |
760.91 |
6.0 |
Got vertical stabilizer attached needed to do more filing on skin for a good fit. Attach angle was a little off, so beat it with a mallet! Cleco'd and riveted the lower rudder hinge. |
T01, T09 |
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3/19/2011 |
765.41 |
4.5 |
Finished right wingtip. Decided to add a stiffener laterally against the wingtip. Used some left over .03" Z03. Installed & rigged rudder and elevator cables and pushrods. |
C01, W07 |
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3/26/2011 |
768.28 |
2.9 |
Fabricated and installed the rudder springs. Installed the trim control. Worked on tail section fairing, but not happy with the result. |
C01, T01 |
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3/27/2011 |
774.55 |
6.3 |
Made the gear leg fairings. Made up and installed the nose gear attach bracket. Used some Bondo on a first pass to fill the pant gaps. Need to investigate a split pant for the nose wheel. Do not want to remove the gear to put the pant on! |
L06 |
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4/3/2011 |
777.21 |
2.7 |
Figured out a plan to split the front gear boot. The preformed part in the kit is not symmetric. Locate the center, mark off, and cut. Used layup techniques shown in EAA "hints for homebuilders." |
L06 |
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4/24/2011 |
779.73 |
2.5 |
Split the dried boot and trimmed off the excess. Mounted 10-32 nutplates. Carefully located the holes on the mounting bracket. Assembled back together. I will use flush area washers when finished. |
L06 |
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5/1/2011 |
783.05 |
3.3 |
Started on the boot "fin" required for the Jab 3300 trigear. The boot isn't the same shape as the drawing and is going to be difficult to attach. Attached the oil collector and the left fuselage inspection cover. Opened up the Jab box. Took off the Bing carb. Drilled out the oil cooler. Started laying out the firewall and cleco'ing items in place. My strategy is to use nutplates and nearly all of the firewall electrical components. |
P20, L06, Firewall |
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5/7/2011 |
786.5 |
3.5 |
Tapped the oil cooler and mounted the AN-6 nipples. Mounted the rudder cable fairings. Re-started on the tail section fairings. I decided to use a single-piece fairing which covers the trim cable. Didn't have 1/16" clecos, so used 3/32. I verified clearance of nutplates adjacent to fuel tank. Will placard against deep screws. |
T01, Firewall |
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5/8/2011 |
787.39 |
0.9 |
Found a fitting at ACS that I liked better than the Azusa, so I replaced it on the trim control. |
L06 |
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5/10/2011 |
790.72 |
3.3 |
Started on the main gear boots. Because I'm using the Tracy Obrien’s, my mounts will be a little different. Made the plan cutouts knowing that I'll need to enlarge. Used a piece of re-enforcing .03 fastened to the TOB brakes and mounted nutplates to it. I hope this will prevent the cracking that other builders have experienced. Used epoxy to mount a steel shoulder washer onto the outside (interior) of the boot to prevent the axle from wearing through. |
L06 |
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5/14/2011 |
792.52 |
1.8 |
Finally dropped the plane onto it's gear for the first time. Prepared to mount the engine by placing an eyehook into a ceiling joist and positioning a come-along and harness on the engine. Had a couple neighbors flip the motor over out of the crate. Forgot to order the AN4-47s, so used 1/4-20 hardware from Home Depot. I found that by using a 6" bolt first I could get nuts & washers on and semi-tightened down. I then swapped 5.5" in one-at-a-time. Made up a 2x4 wood prop that helps me turn the motor over and will assist with alignment. Pulled off the Jab A nameplate. Determine that the motor was angled just a little right & down. |
P20 |
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5/15/2011 |
796.11 |
3.6 |
Added washers to both lower mounts and re measured. Attached the oil cooler and fuel pump plate. Cutoff the forward right cooling fins. Made up the baffles. They don't go on between fin 1 & 2 per the directions. Fins 2 & 3 are OK per Kerry. |
P20 |
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5/18/2011 |
798.58 |
2.5 |
Test fit the exhaust. As others before me found, the left side interferes with the nose gear tube. After loosing the pipes with no luck, I bit the bullet and had a custom muffler shop cut and rotate the pipe ~15 degrees (about 3/16"). Created a 1" space. Went through the plan and replaced non AN hardware with proper items. Loctited where I could. Test fit the Aero Injector. Sanded down the Bondo on the main gear boots. |
P20 |
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5/28/2011 |
801.8 |
3.2 |
Received a Trio servo from an RV10 builder. Had to test fit for fun! Finally figured out a way to attach the "fin" to the nose-gear pant. I didn't like the way the clips attached to the compound angled pant. So, I cut a slot, brought it up from the bottom and glassed it after flush riveting. I had borrowed a cable crimper so I made up the battery and starter 4 ga cables. |
P20 |
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5/29/2011 |
804.45 |
2.7 |
Refined the schematic to Version M. Started wiring the firewall. Discovered that the starter solenoid's base isn't isolated and my design requires one. I found this out when I connected the battery ground and the prop (club) moved! |
E01 |
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5/30/2011 |
808.56 |
4.1 |
Continued wiring the firewall including the voltage regulator and OV relays. My design cuts out both the field and the alternator output. Established ground lugs on both sides of the firewall. |
E01 |
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6/3/2011 |
810.17 |
1.6 |
Received & installed an isolated base starter. Same weight as the OEX! Coil terminals were different, so I had to remake the cable. Wired the mags. |
E01 |
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6/4/2011 |
810.17 |
0.0 |
Didn't build. Worked the EAA Chapt 105 Pancake breakfast, and then flew to lunch at 7S5 with fellow builder Jon Crew. |
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6/5/2011 |
813.4 |
3.2 |
Finished most of the wing wiring by adding connectors at both ends. Formed the gear fairing that had sitting on my bench for a while. Strategy worked pretty good! |
E01 & L06 |
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6/6/2011 |
816.77 |
3.4 |
Modified engine baffles to make them removable with piano hinge. |
P20 |
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6/7/2011 |
817.56 |
0.8 |
Created a proto throttle reversing bellcrank for the push-pull center throttle I'm going with. Still need to order the swiveling hardware. |
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6/10/2011 |
818.57 |
1.0 |
Mounted the bulkhead fitting for the fuel line. Made up one end of braided hose just to try. Really easy using the Earl's method. |
G01 |
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6/11/2011 |
823.92 |
5.3 |
Made up all the braided hose. Made the oil cooler bracket and baffle. Experimented with servo positions for the 1 axis wing-leveler. Ended up making a new arm extended slightly. |
B10 |
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6/12/2011 |
829.46 |
5.5 |
Created a stiffener plate for the servo. Mounted it to the rear floor, which required dimpling. Won't attach the servo until the final pushrod arrives. Added the fuel tank felt. Made up the bungee, and added a small extension tab to insure clearance of the servo pushrod. Installed the hydraulic brake lines and caliper brake grip. Used steel rather than poly for the gear lines, but poly for the grip line. |
C01, G01, L05 |
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6/18/2011 |
832.11 |
2.6 |
Installed the Curtis Oil Drain adapter. It hits the oil cooler baffle, so I'll need to modify. Built up a fuel cutoff valve extension similar to other builders. It will extend out just below throttle & mix knobs. Received the .5" tube, and fabbed a servo push-rod. Aligned the servo and cleco'd in place. |
C01, B01, G01 |
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6/19/2011 |
833.74 |
1.6 |
Discovered I had 6061 tube for the oil breather pipe (which doesn't bend well). Used the sharpie & torch trick to "de-temper" and make bendable. CHT probes were too thick to fit between the fins, so I took off the heat shrink, re-crimped, and put new shrink back on. Fit's just fine now. Started assembling the RF cables, but found out that my standard coax crimpers don't work. Oh well... |
B01 |
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6/25/2011 |
836.88 |
3.1 |
Drilled the firewall thru-holes. Made up a couple of sealing plates per the Bingelis FWF book. Moved the shunt under the battery box with hopes that I can place the MGL RDAC there. Wired the headset floor boxes. Drilled more pass thru-holes in the spar tunnel. Started routing wires and taping in place. |
E01, B01 |
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6/26/2011 |
839.75 |
2.9 |
Ran the static hose to the back of the fuselage box per other builder's suggestions. Wired the servo. Continued to work on routing of the cables. Started trimming the oil sump. |
B01 |
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7/2/2011 |
843.75 |
4.0 |
Swapped out SS gear bolts for AN. Finished hooking up throttle bellcrank. Fabbed and installed a short cable to the Aerocarb. |
B01 |
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7/3/2011 |
846.32 |
2.6 |
Created throttle attach point on bellcrank. Installed and verified. Made up FW bushing for throttle & mixture cables. Used T. Bingelis books as my basis. |
B01, E01 |
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7/4/2011 |
848.66 |
2.3 |
Finished wiring power distribution. Wired for the OAT to be out on a gear leg. Finished wing lighting connectors. |
E01 |
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7/10/2011 |
850.57 |
1.9 |
Fit up the fuel tank and made up one end of the fuel line with the bend between the pedals. Shortened the fron fuel strap. Sanded off the top of the fuel tank inlet. Sanded and worked more on the oil sump to fit the cowl. |
G01, B01 |
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8/20/2011 |
850.57 |
0.0 |
2 day trip to Oroville Fly-In in Grumman. 12 Sonex at fly-in. |
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9/4/2011 |
855.99 |
5.4 |
Implemented Jabiru 3300 Service Bulletin JSB 031-1 (12 pt nuts) |
JSB 31-1 |
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9/5/2011 |
858.12 |
2.1 |
Fit & made up inter-cylinder lower baffles. Installed the control rods in the wings. |
B01, W02, C01 |
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9/11/2011 |
860.56 |
2.4 |
Made up the transponder grey encoder cable. Made up the main bus fuse connectors. Temporarily wired up the MGL Enigma to test it out. |
E01 |
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10/2/2011 |
867.89 |
7.3 |
Received the motor mount brace from Sonex. Pulled the motor mount and had it welded. Remounted wings and re-drilled right spar. No problem this time! Connected and adjusted ailerons and flaps. Remounted motor temporarily with clamps. Made a removable bracket for the RDAC. |
W08, P22, E01 |
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10/10/2011 |
869.1 |
1.2 |
Finished leveling & reattaching motor. Able to get it in position with no spacers this time! Created a bracket and mounted the SP6. Removed all the steel rivets and substituted aluminum (non-structural) |
P20, E01 |
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10/15/2011 |
871.1 |
2.0 |
Reinstalled all the intake manifold piping. Needed to first remove all the previous gasket compound with acetone. Created a shock plate and mounted the SP7. |
P20, E01 |
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10/16/2011 |
874.59 |
3.5 |
Reinstalled all the exhaust pipes which had been previously ceramic coated. Mounted the EGT sensors before installing. Bent and install the fuel tank vent line. |
P20, E01 |
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10/22/2011 |
878.13 |
3.5 |
Added the fairing pods for the AveoBurst lights to the wingtips. Fellow builder Jon Crew had created a set of molds and made a set of fairings for me too. Thanks Jon! |
W22, E01 |
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10/29/2011 |
884.43 |
6.3 |
Added some Evercoat filler to the light fairings and wired the RDAC. (Note - forgot to put on the engine baffles first) |
E01, P20 |
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11/1/2011 |
887.74 |
3.3 |
Reattached the throttle bell crank and the oil cooler with baffle. Pulled the CHT sensors and threaded through the engine baffles. Applied anti-seize to the plugs and tightened. While installing the engine baffles, pulled all 6 covers to verify lubrication and no corrosion. Started fabbing an air box to route air back to the right mag per the Jabiru manual. |
B01 |
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11/2/2011 |
888.93 |
1.2 |
Finished the mag air vent box. Sanded the wingtip fairings. Figured out the light mounting and epoxied nutplates to the inside of the fairings. The LED holes were for M3, so I updrilled to #6 which I also had nutplates for. |
W22, B01 |
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11/6/2011 |
890.2 |
1.3 |
Removed the wings and set the plane back on the ground. Spent some time organizing and cleaning up the wiring. Added wiring clamps and guides. Made up a heavy-duty dolly for the front gear. |
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11/9/2011 |
892.56 |
2.4 |
Painted the upper firewall flat black. Reinstalled the glareshield. Needed to climb into the cabin to fasten fuel tank straps and upper FW hardware. Riveted the glareshield. Decided to install the OOPS fitting before installing the tank. Not an easy job! |
F06 |
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11/11/2011 |
895.19 |
2.6 |
Installed the fuel tank. Again…not easy. Added a reinforcing plate to the upper glareshield (after I leaned on it and saw how much it flexed). |
G01 |
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11/12/2011 |
897.45 |
2.3 |
Fastened the fuel tank straps. Had to climb into the cabin again. Installed the fuel system, finger strainer, valve, filter, pipe. It actually went easier than I thought it would. |
G01 |
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11/13/2011 |
899.2 |
1.8 |
Devised a way to mount the OAT inside the lower gear fairing. Decided the locations for the VHF & Xpndr antennas. Ran the RF cables. Can't finalize the installation because my lower skin is still off. |
E01 |
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11/19/2011 |
901.97 |
2.8 |
Ran the SP6/SP7 cables. Started securing the various cables. Bolted down the servo and grounded per instructions. Mounted the hydraulic brake lock. Filled and bled the brake lines. Messy and smelly job. Dextron II stinks! You need to invert the master cylinder to properly bleed it. |
E01 |
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11/21/2011 |
903.67 |
1.7 |
Started on the windshield. Positioned the forward bow. It was way off and needed to be re-bent. Trimmed back the Lexan material and clamped. Still need to trim more back on all sides. |
D01, D02 |
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11/22/2011 |
905.58 |
1.9 |
Spent the whole day fitting the windshield. Bent the sides over with a 2X4 and mallet. Finally got a good fit, drilled and cleco'd. Still need to trim off a little more. |
D01 |
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11/25/2011 |
910.97 |
5.4 |
Sanded the excess off the windshield. Countersunk the windshield and tapped the bow. Fit and drilled the bow strap. Dimpled/Countersunk the side holes. |
D01 |
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11/26/2011 |
912.19 |
1.2 |
Misc catch-up. Replaced a bunch of non-AN hardware with the good stuff. Added washers where necessary. Checked torques. Made up a new breather line. |
P20 |
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11/27/2011 |
913.95 |
1.8 |
Started fitting the cowling. Taped off the sides. Cutout the hub. Attached the hub spacer (which had been made by fellow builder Jon Crew) |
P13 |
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12/3/2011 |
917.85 |
3.9 |
Finished fitting right cowl (Update - I wasn't even close!). Cleco'd top and sides (Update - all had to be filled, sanded and re-drilled). Removed right and attached left. Left went much faster, but I had a big bump at the bottom. (Update - right needed fixing too). Plus, because I am building a tri-gear, I needed to make a cutout for the gear. |
P13 |
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12/4/2011 |
919.2 |
1.4 |
Trimmed back to centerline (Update - should not have done this yet). Planning on installing horizontal split modification so it doesn't need to be perfect. I glassed in a .025 spacer to even the cowl out with the side panel. (Update - should not have done this yet. Will need to be reworked). Potential builder Bob Engle and his wife stopped by to see my progress. |
P13 |
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12/5/2011 |
920.87 |
1.7 |
Pilot drilled the side spacers and re-assembled both sides. Still have a bump on the lower left side, and I have a 1" gap just below the oil sump. Like others, I immediately suspect that my cowling has been cut too short. The instructions say that I haven't cut back enough. Hmmmm…. (Update - Instructions were correct!) |
P13 |
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12/11/2011 |
923.72 |
2.9 |
After hearing input from other builders and seeing that my lower gap would not close, I decided to bite-the-bullet and start aggressively cutting back. This is only required at the bottom corners. I took off ~1/8" at a time, going back & forth between left and right side. I drew a straight line from my actual cut at the top, to a mark ~1/8" in at the bottom. I also had the oil cooler touching, so I moved it back about ~1-3/4" (I still had a little slack in the hoses). |
P13 |
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12/12/2011 |
925.83 |
2.1 |
After 3-5 iterations of trimming back, I was finally able to close the lower gap! I also needed to trim a little more of the lower outer edges of the oil sump. I'd previously sanded off a few other placed where I had interference. I glassed over a few "mistake holes" and will re-drill. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on this beast! |
P13 |
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12/14/2011 |
929.23 |
3.4 |
Drilled sides for clecos, Drilled and cut out "smiley face" cooling vent, attached piano hinge on left & right and attached. Marked off split line for cowling mod. |
P13 |
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12/15/2011 |
933.64 |
4.4 |
Already needed to move a row of piano hinge holes. Sanded off a few edges that interfered, Sanded off the left-side "bump." Transferred mid line to inside. Extended nose gear cutout. |
P13 |
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12/17/2011 |
935.91 |
2.3 |
TC Dan Benua stopped by and he reviewed my progress. Made up cowling exhaust tunnel pieces. Instructions don't say how to modify for the nose gear! |
P13 |
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12/19/2011 |
938.2 |
2.3 |
Discovered that the exhaust tunnel is only 43 sq inches of area. Far less than the 47 required. Kerry responded and said they should be OK. Hmmmm…. |
P13 |
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12/20/2011 |
941.34 |
3.1 |
Reworked exhaust tunnels to get 50 sq inches of area. Made up side hinges and attached to cowling. Slightly recessed so that I can putty in. |
P13, P20 |
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12/21/2011 |
945.14 |
3.8 |
Attached the lower rear piano hinges. It's a really tight pull on the hinge to close the gap. Needed to add some Bondo to fill a few voids. Glassed over line on sides for split cowl. |
P13, P20 |
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12/23/2011 |
947.57 |
2.4 |
Added more glass to the side panels. Made up left baffle plates so that they can be easily removed and modified. |
P13 |
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12/24/2011 |
949.51 |
1.9 |
Made up right baffle plates so that they can be easily removed and modified. |
P20 |
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12/25/2011 |
951.54 |
2.0 |
Christmas Day! While test fitting for the fuel vent, I did the unthinkable and dropped a brass fitting right into the fuel tank! Using a extendable mirror, clothespin and some strong mounting tape I was able to retrieve it. (Close Call!) Installed the inter-cylinder baffles. Began adding McFarlane cowl saver to the baffles. Added glass to front of sides. |
P13, P20 |
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12/26/2011 |
956.15 |
4.6 |
Added more cowl saver. Made up an oil-cooler heat deflector plate. Flipped the assembled cowl over and partially supported from the ceiling. Applied 2 layers of glass to the top cowl gap. Like a couple of other builders, I added a fuel catcher inside of the fuel filler area. It's not pretty, but will keep fuel from dripping down the inside firewall! |
P13, P20 |
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12/27/2011 |
960.11 |
4.0 |
Turned the cowl back over and while assembled, mounted onto the front. Sanded off the gel coat and added 2 critical layers of glass. Started gathering up all the materials for the canopy. I'm still waffling on doing the tilt-back modification. |
P13, D02 |
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12/28/2011 |
964.96 |
4.9 |
Rebent canopy bows and made up double canopy parts in preparation for the tilt-back mod. Temporarily cleco'd the side rails and bows together. Sanded the cowl again and added 2 layers of glass. |
P13, D01, D02 |
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12/29/2011 |
967.96 |
3.0 |
Cut and split the cowling for modification. Definitely scary! Trimmed up after split. Added a little glass to a few places where I cut too deep |
P13 |
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12/30/2011 |
971.72 |
3.8 |
Cutout an attached the exhaust tunnels. Reattached the split cowl. Need to measure and drill for clecos. Last entry of the year! |
P13, P20 |